Changing Planet

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #108

When you consider that all life on earth evolved from a single-celled organism, it it truly mind-blowing that our earth holds such diversity. This week’s Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs gives just a glimpse into the amazing diversity within the birds, we feature the small and dainty like the Ultramarine Flycatchers right up to the large and powerful such as the Brahminy Kite. Thank you to everyone who shared their stunning photographs with us and congratulations to everyone who made it to the Top 25 this week. To be in the running for next week’s Top 25 you can submit photographs on the Facebook page with species, location and photographer as the caption. Also follow us on Twitter for regular updates and on Instagram for our feature on a different group of birds every day!

This beautiful female Ashy-crowned Sparrow-lark was photographed in Pune, India by Sushil Khekare. These sparrow-larks live in open, dry habitats where they feed on seeds and grasses.

Here we have a white morph of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher. As their name suggests these birds feed on flying insects. While they normally catch insects in flight, sometimes they will perch on the forest floor and disturb the vegetation so as to flush insects within the leaf litter. Photo by Nitin Nawathe

Black-chinned Hummingbirds are known to take nectar from 40 different species of flower. Photo by Tim Nicol

This colourful Blue-throated Barbet was photographed by Ganesh Rao in Uttarakhand, India. During courtship the male and female perform a ritual with head bobbing and tail-twitching.

The Brahminy Kite can often be found close to salt, and fresh, water bodies. This regal kite was photographed by Dr S Alagu Ganesh

This Crested Kingfisher was photographed by Adhirup Ghosh. These kingfishers feed mainly on fish and crayfish.

The Eastern Orphean Warbler spends the northern summer in Eurasia and the southern summer in sub-Saharan Africa, an ideal lifestyle for maximizing foraging opportunities! This one was photographed by Antonis Tsaknakis, within its northern range, in Cyprus

European Goldfinches are common across their range but are no less thrilling to see! This stunning individual was photographed near Rhotang Pass in India by Paresh Deshmukh

An Indian Courser captured beautifully in its natural habitat. They are generally found in stony plains and also in waste and fallow land. Photograph by Indranil Bhattacharjee

For such a beautiful bird you would expect an equally beautiful and melodious call but the Indian Roller in fact has a harsh and jarring call. Photo by Goutam Mitra

A Large-tailed Nightjar looking very comfortable on a branch. These nightjars are known to sometimes follow livestock, catching insects that are flushed by their legs. Photograph by PakCik Malek

A Laughing Dove giving a brilliant display of its contrasting tail feathers. Photo by Vishwas Thakkar

In this picture you can really see how the Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker got its name! This Woodpecker is found in woodland areas across India. Photo by Shantharam Holla

Long-tailed Shrikes are often found in cultivated areas. Photograph by Goutam Mitra

An Osprey displaying the full length of its wings, the wingspan of an Osprey is usually between 1.27 and 1.74 metres, depending on the sex and sub-species. Photo by Sujoy Sarkar

Purple Herons have been known to catch fish up 55 centimetres long. Photo by Ayan Guin

The Red-billed Leiothrix is native to south-east Asia, India and Pakistan. This one was photographed in Pakistan by Wajahat Malik

The Shikra is a species of falcon which is distributed across much of Africa, India and south-east Asia. Photo by Tushar Tripathi TT

There are two sub-species of Ultramarine Flycatcher, the eastern and the western, this is a Western Ultramarine Flycatcher. The males can be easily told apart by the white stripe above the eye which the Eastern Ultramarine Flycatcher lacks. Photo by Gaurav Budhiraja

The Virginia Rail is found in freshwater marshes from southern Canada to Mexico. Photo by Owen Deutsch

Crested Kingfishers lay their eggs within a burrow which they excavate in a river bank. Photograph by Amit Kumar Srivastava

A crystal clear photograph of a White-breasted Waterhen foraging. These birds eat a variety of foods from molluscs to grass and seeds. Photograph by Ganesh Rao

A White-throated Laughingthrush having a bath. This species is gregarious, you will often see groups of between six and fifteen together. Photo by Sandipan Ghosh

Our mission is to build a global community around the freedom and beauty of birds in the wild as ambassadors for the natural ecosystems that they depend upon. They are the music, decoration and character of every terrestrial habitat on the planet and have been around since the dinosaurs. They are the witnesses and ambassadors of the awesome power of nature. The wide availability of good, cheap optics has opened their world to us for the last few decades. Amazing, affordable DSLR cameras with long lenses are delivery brilliant digital bird imagery to online communities.

We are in a day-and-age during which more bird species are threatened with extinction than ever before. The Wild Birds! Revolution aims to publish the “Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week” to 1 million people every week by the end of the year. That is a revolution that will change the world! Join thousands of other weekend naturalists, photographers, birders, experts, hikers, nature-lovers, guides, scientists, conservationists and artists that share the thousands of wild bird photographs submitted to the Wild Bird Trust website and Facebook page. Thousands of wild bird enthusiasts are going out everyday to photograph our planet’s beautiful birdlife. Pick up your camera, fill your bird feeder, open your heart, and join the Wild Birds! Revolution!!

Meet the Author

Steve Boyes has dedicated his life to conserving Africa's wilderness areas and the species that depend upon them. After having worked as a camp manager and wilderness guide in the Okavango Delta and doing his PhD field work on the little-known Meyer's Parrot, Steve took up a position as a Centre of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology. He has since been appointed the Scientific Director of the Wild Bird Trust and is a 2014 TED Fellow. His work takes him all over Africa, but his day-to-day activities are committed to South Africa's endemic and Critically Endangered Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus). Based in Hogsback Village in the Eastern Cape (South Africa), Steve runs the Cape Parrot Project, which aims to stimulate positive change for the species through high-quality research and community-based conservation action. When not in Hogsback, Steve can be found in the Okavango Delta where he explores remote areas of this wetland wilderness on "mokoros" or dug-out canoes to study endangered bird species in areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Steve is a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer for his work in the Okavango Delta and on the Cape Parrot Project.

About the Blog

Researchers, conservationists, and others share stories, insights and ideas about Our Changing Planet, Wildlife & Wild Spaces, and The Human Journey. More than 50,000 comments have been added to 10,000 posts. Explore the list alongside to dive deeper into some of the most popular categories of the National Geographic Society’s conversation platform Voices.

Opinions are those of the blogger and/or the blogger’s organization, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. Posters of blogs and comments are required to observe National Geographic’s community rules and other terms of service.

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About the Blog

Researchers, conservationists, and others share stories, insights and ideas about Our Changing Planet, Wildlife & Wild Spaces, and The Human Journey. More than 50,000 comments have been added to 10,000 posts. Explore the list alongside to dive deeper into some of the most popular categories of the National Geographic Society’s conversation platform Voices.

Opinions are those of the blogger and/or the blogger’s organization, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. Posters of blogs and comments are required to observe National Geographic’s community rules and other terms of service.